Description

With this plant irrigation system, I am able to take care of my plants via Smartphone even when I am far away from home.

The heart of the configuration is a Raspberry Pi with implemented VPN-Server, so access to the GPIO ports is easy. By means of the SSH-Shell I run Python scripts and activate a 12V water pump thru additional DIY electronics. Full automation (no manual intervention) would basically be possible as well.

Moisture sensors and the Pi camera provide information about the condition of the plants.

Details

1. Functional architecture

At present the system is functional and works reasonably well, regarding electronics and the mechanical assembly there is a lot still that can be improved (e.g. different or more sensors, fluid level measurement).

2. Camera Pi module

Example snap-shot.

3. Possible SW developments

This project leaves plenty of room for experimentation and further improvements (not only in regards to SW).

One future concept in regards to SW might be about developing more sophisticated control loops for an entirely automated system, adaptable for different kinds of plants.

One can also envision an ML algorithm of sorts, what would entail gathering, analyzing and processing long-term sensor data.

Files

Irrigation-system--schematic-w-LM324.png

Schematic

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - 35.55 kB - 04/23/2023 at 05:27

Preview

COM-KY053ADC-DATENBLATT.pdf

Datasheet Analog-Digital-Converter (ADC).

Adobe Portable Document Format - 607.50 kB - 05/20/2021 at 04:34

Preview

IRF530_FSC.pdf

Field effect transistor for switching the pump on/off.

Adobe Portable Document Format - 75.46 kB - 05/16/2021 at 04:44

Preview

Iduino-me110-bodenfeuchtesensor.pdf

Resistive type moisture sensor.

Adobe Portable Document Format - 390.11 kB - 05/16/2021 at 04:44

Preview

LM324-D.PDF

Operational amplifier data sheet.

Adobe Portable Document Format - 314.65 kB - 05/16/2021 at 04:42

Preview

Components

1 × Raspberry Pi

1 × Floating switch PNS-55/10W or similar

1 × Barwig immersion pump 12V

2 × Moisture Sensor Iduino ME110 Resistive sensors

1 × ADC ADS1115

Discussions

Florian Wilhelm Dirnberger wrote 11/08/2021 at 04:59

Hello nodemcu12ecanada (cannot reply directly to your comment),

yes I use MQTT (in other projects) and I am familiar with it. Very convenient indeed.

But given the current project status I will now stick to python and shell scripts because that works just well.

Are you sure? yes | no

Jason Dale wrote 03/04/2021 at 14:18

I have a similar project! I can help with your project if you like.

https://jasondale.me/posts/garden-automation/

Are you sure? yes | no

Florian Wilhelm Dirnberger wrote 03/04/2021 at 15:07

Hi there,

I would be interested in your technical concept switching on/off the water pump. You want to use a rather small pump (according to your project description) that could be supplied by one Raspberry Pi 5V Pin.

For my 12V pump I need additional DIY electronics (op amp plus one transistor).

The mentioned web frontend I find interesting since I am pondering about a more user-friendly interface for quite a while (right now I am using just the SSH-Shell what works fine but is unsexy; I want to use solely my smartphone for controlling/monitoring the system).

I am not really an experienced coder btw.

Cheers

Are you sure? yes | no

Jason Dale wrote 03/07/2021 at 13:29

I am an "upper-junior dev", but I've been working on this since early last year. I also am very new to electronics.

I was powering the pumps with a separate power supply and using the Pi to activate a relay. Power is an issue I am running into - I am going to buy a terminal block for +5v and ground, since each sensor needs a power source and I don't want to risk frying the Pi by running a pump through it :)

Something like this, I think:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y217129/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_10?smid=A3KY66I36TSYAT&psc=1

I also want this to be solar-powered, I got a couple of cheap solar panels that are meant to charge a 5v battery. This way I can put it far from a power source if needed, as long as wifi reaches.

The web front end will just be a display at first - the Pi will be running the code that reads sensors, uploads the data to the API, and then turns the pump on if the moisture is too low. I have a basic API running now: https://plant-waterify.com/api/plantData This is all my data from last year, but some values are either randomly generated or simply inaccurate

This is the relay I used:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32997387727.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dGkDNSS

I have other side projects taking priority but I really want to finish this up before this growing season starts.

Are you sure? yes | no

nodemcu12ecanada wrote 11/07/2021 at 23:46

Have you considered MQTT? Adafruit.io is one way. Very easy to create a HMI to contol and monitor from anywhere.

https://sites.google.com/site/nodemcu12e/home#h.bagvjtiwx7l3

Also

https://hackaday.io/project/181370-nodemcu-plant-watering-with-web-page-hmi

Are you sure? yes | no

Remotely controlled plant watering

Description

Details

1. Functional architecture

2. Camera Pi module

3. Possible SW developments